Denny Hamlin was running away with the victory Sunday at Kansas Speedway, until the right-rear tire on Ryan Blaney’s car came apart.
The game-changing caution flew with 14 laps remaining in the Hollywood Casino 400, when Blaney right-rear tire disintegrated in Turn 1. He was running up against the wall in the closing laps to make up time when he hit it, and it blew before he could make it back to pit road.
“…I could only make time at the wall and had to pound the fence to do anything,” he said. “Lap cars were running the fence and they wouldn’t give you the fence so I would lose time trying to run down. We couldn’t really run different lanes of the race track.”
Hamlin exited pit road with the race lead, by taking just two tires; as did Kyle Larson and Jimmie Johnson. Kyle Busch took four tires.
Track position was the biggest factor in the decision.
“As long as we could keep our car out front, it was the most important thing beyond tires,” Hamlin said.
On the ensuing restart, Hamlin bested the field to retake the lead, but a two-car wreck in Turn 2 with four laps to go sent the race into overtime.
He lined up in front of teammate Busch and alongside Erik Jones. Though it was no guarantee that any coordination between the three Joe Gibbs Racing drivers would work.
“You just hope, from my standpoint, that the person that’s behind you gives you a push,” he said. “I think that all of drivers are smart enough now to know that, like, the power is in numbers. When you start pushing down the frontstretch, through the corner, that line will go.”
On the first restart in overtime, Busch pushed him all the way into Turn 1 and he came out ahead, but a wreck coming to the white flag forced another attempt.
This time, he lined up in front of Chase Elliott.
On the final restart, Hamlin timed his jump to get a “shot” from Elliott and won the Hollywood Casino 400.
“That was the most important thing for us – to get a good restart,” he said. “Once we got out front, we could hold it wide open. Our car was built for downforce, so it worked out that it was just fast enough to win.”
It was his 36th career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory in 502 starts.
“I was trying to make a run at Denny and we just never got our momentum up enough for me to do anything about it,” Elliott said. “And restarts, I think, were helping his cause on tires.”
He finished second and Busch rounded out the podium.
Kurt Busch and William Byron rounded out the top five.
Martin Truex Jr., Erik Jones, Clint Bowyer, Kevin Harvick and Jimmie Johnson rounded out the top 10.
Brad Keselowski, Byron, Bowyer and Alex Bowman failed to make the Round of 8 of the NASCAR Playoffs.
All of the top 10 finishers started outside of the top 10.
Bubble drivers
Joey Logano came to pit road on Lap 31, because of a loose wheel that he radioed a few laps earlier was vibrating.
He was within the fuel window to make it to the end of the first stage, however, and others hit pit road after Lap 41. This cycled him back onto the lead lap.
After caution flew on Lap 74, Logano opted not to pit.
He passed four other cars down the backstretch on the ensuing restart and drove on to win the stage.
With 38 laps remaining, Hamlin put Keselowski a lap down.
He regained his lap back, but lost too many spots in the final three restarts to remain ahead of Elliott in points and was knocked out of the playoffs.
What else happened
Kyle Larson brought out the caution on Lap 115, when he turned Joey Gase on the frontstretch.
Coming to the line to end the second stage, Denny Hamlin slowed down to let Jimmie Johnson get back on the lead lap.
With three laps remaining, the hub on the left-rear wheel of Darrell Wallace Jr.’s car failed and completely detached from his car, which caused him to spin in Turn 2.
Coming to the white flag, Daniel Suarez was to Keselowski’s inside and in front of Paul Menard, who drove below him to pass him. Suarez got loose, made contact with Keselowski, turned down then back up the track, into the path of Daniel Hemric, and triggered a five-car wreck on the front stretch.
Flow of the race
In the first 10 laps of a run, the lead would change hands roughly two or three times. The longer a run went on, however, the further the leader pulled away.
At the start, Larson and Keselowski exchanged the lead. Until the first cycle of green flag stops, Larson pulled to an eight-second lead over the field.
Nuts and bolts
The race lasted three hours, two minutes and 39 seconds, at an average speed of 136.491 mph. There were 15 lead changes among 12 different drivers, and seven cautions for 32 laps.
Kyle Busch leaves Kansas with a four-point lead over Truex.
The Cup Series returns to action Sunday at 3 p.m. at Martinsville Speedway.
TOP IMAGE: Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images
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